Coined in Japan in the late 90s, "Moe" (萌え, pronounced as "Moh-Eh", derived from a Japanese word that means "budding" or sometimes "to burn") is an ill-defined otaku term that means, amongst other things, "cute", "huggable", or "endearing". While it's sometimes used to describe a series, it's more about a specific ideal or kind of character.

A common definition is that Moe is the ability of a character to instill in the audience an irrational desire to adore them, hug them, protect them, comfort them, etc. To some, it can evoke a Big Brother Instinct. Don't be misled, however -- Moe can evoke such feelings in women as well as men.

What is "Moe"? Moe characters are cute. Moe characters are implicitly youthful, congregating to high school age and below. Adult female characters who qualify are almost always in their low twenties. Any characters older than that have this fact unmentioned, or the character's appearance is altered as little as possible regardless of the actual time that has passed. Moe characters often resemble traits from both the Lolicon (from the attitude perspective) and Bishoujo genres. A related implication is that moe characters are virgins though mostly in Japan where virginity still remains important to a girl's appeal. It has been proven however that moe characters need not always be virgins.

Their personality will reflect an 'innocent' outlook on something vital, such as about romance. While the Moe character does bring up associations with submissive personalities in general, expect also attitudes that resemble that of a Cloudcuckoolander or a Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Moe characters usually are quirky, and rely on Costume Inertia, odd language, strange hobbies and the like to make them seem unique and noticeable. Occasionally, these quirks are completely unrelated and seem a bit disjointed. If a character is plain, they are 'loudly plain' in the way Hollywood Homely characters are 'ugly'; sometimes they're just more moderate than the rest of the cast, and the writers implicitly suggest the audience is kind for liking the character for being plain.

Such characters are also prone to being used as mere Fanservice. When a character has no visible personality traits aside from vaguely cute uselessness, he/she is termed the dreaded Moe Blob. An interesting result of this is some moe characters are quasi-Animated Actors; the series they star in need not be related at all, being only devices to enable the viewer to enjoy the character. Many of them feature in Gag Series, and only the merchandise for the series shows off its intended and occasionally creepy roots.

Male characters can also have moe traits, and they figure prominently in Shoujo and Josei. Like their female counterparts, moe boys are usually ridiculously cute. The Adorably Precocious Child is a good example. Bishonen characters (particularly Troubled but Cute characters) also tend to evoke feelings of Moe in a female audience and are frequently called Moe by both fans and authors.

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Sailors Saturn and Mercury in Sailor Moon are prototype cases - in fact, there's a theory that the term Moe was originally derived from Saturn's civilian name, Tomoe Hotaru (written as 土萌; even the relevant kanji is the same.) Researchers such as Patrick W. Galbraith and Tamaki Saitō have found that "moe" was first used in 2channel in the 1990s, discussing female characters who were "hybrids of the Lolicon (Lolita Complex) and bishoujo (beautiful girl) genres". As this describes exactly Hotaru Tomoe, and coincides with Hotaru Tomoe's height of popularity in 2channel, there is likeliness in the theory that Sailor Moon is the Trope namer.

Moe Sagisawa of the little known (to westerners) anime Kyoryu Wakusei is another possibility for the trope namer. As in the case of Hotaru Tomoe her name and year of the anime's debut coincide perfectly with the earliest uses of the term.

Amelia from The Slayers seems to be another somewhat-prototype for the trope (having been around since before the tropewas really identified at large). Although much (much) more go-getting, positive, and active than most modern characters who fall under the banner, she is the youngest of the four cast members, is very naive, possesses a rather impressive chest for her supposed age (14 in the first season!), comes from a fairly chaste background and religious city-state, and is often used as a punching bag by the villains to show how evil they are, which seems intended to produce an extremely sympathetic and protective feeling from the audience. It doesn't seem a coincidence that a larger number of shows like this began airing in the years following Slayers going off the air.

There's also episode 15 of Slayers TRY, where Lina is transported to an Alice in Wonderland-esque bizarro-world, complete with costume. She's absolutely adorable.

The final, iron-clad ur-example for what is identified as the modern trope is Sakura Kinomoto from Cardcaptor Sakura. While it's quite arguable that the entire show can be classified as moe, Miss Kinomoto takes the cake, between her clumsiness, her age-based cuteness, her verbal tics, and her city-crushing onmi-powers. What makes CCS and Sakura so notable is that the show's run marks the point when the industry noticed what kind of Periphery Demographic Sakura (alongside Rei and Amelia) had, and how much they were willing to spend on her; this was noticed, the money was counted... and the producers began to create works to match. Modern moe shows sprang to life not very long after CCS ended its television run.

Shinobu from Love Hina. Her regular luminescent blushes, and embarrassed stutterings (not to mention that adorable squeal) are enough to melt the coldest of hearts.

7 year old Son Goten of Dragonball Z, despite being a male character in a Shonen series, displays some traits of this trope. He is basically the happy, sweet, innocent, considerate, well-mannered, kind-hearted, cute and huggable little brother that we all wish we had, who is simply too good to ever be true outside a 1950's sitcom.

In Dragon Ball GT, he becomes a playboy who is nevertheless still chaste and warm hearted.

One of the major themes parodied in Ouran High School Host Club, where the Host Club members each cultivate an exaggerated trait/fetish for their female guests, and their self-elected consultant Renge frequently monologues her opinion of what is moe to girls. More satirically, Club President Tamaki views his feelings towards Haruhi as moe (protective and fatherly) even though his classmates realize it's unusually thick-headed way of dealing with actually being attracted to her despite her not really being impressed by him.

Haruhi as a whole could be seen as Moe. Despite her general snarky, and apathetic nature she does still have some moe traits (the former two traits could possibly be moe, too). Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru often never fail to point out how 'plain' and 'dull' she is treating it as more of an endearing quality, rather than an insult. The boys also love to dress her up in all sorts of outfits (granted, most are unisex or male--and Haruhi's not enthusiastic about it). She has few weaknesses with the exception of a Fear of Thunder. Haruhi is also painfully Oblivious to Love. Read chapters 57 and 58 for an unusually Moe Haruhi (she goes back to her normal self a chapter or so later).

Mikuru Asahina from Suzumiya Haruhi is recruited for the S.O.S. Brigade specifically because Haruhi decides that there needs to be a moe mascot character (specifically a short, babyfaced girl with huge boobs). She then tries to make Mikuru even more moe by forcing her into a maid outfit and glasses, and constantly molests her to get sympathy points. Some fans have coined the term "Moe-blob" for her (and characters like her), because to a casual watcher, all she actually does in the series is stand around and be moe, and oh yeah, serve tea. Of course, she's actually driving the entire plot via Time Travel. It's in the books.

That doesn't even get started with her role in the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, where she has a I Just Want to Be Normal moment, thus making her at least as moe as Mikuru, if not even more. (and The Woobie as well)

The armies of Yuki Nagato fanboys demand her moeness. The doujinshi provide.

Mikuru could arguably be a deconstruction, since she is so obviously traumatized by being forced into the Moe-blob role that you feel like a total bastard to get turned on by it. Either that or she's just faking the whole thing to cynically manipulate everyone on orders from her future self

One episode of Keroro Gunsou features a one-shot character rife with disjointed moe characteristics: a cute, pale, spacey, soft-spoken, transfer student prone to bad luck who's interested in the occult. When Fuyuki takes a shine to her, his secret admirerMomoka outright describes her as a "retarded moe character."

In Lucky Star, when Miyuki talks about how absentminded and clumsy she is, Konata tells her that "these are not faults, but elements of moe". And then deconstructs the Dojikko elements by dismissing them as something cute in anime, but annoying in real life.

Let's set the record straight here. Miyuki and Yutaka were outright called "walking Moe points" by Konata. And, what's more, the manga called themselves Moe-Yonkoma-- the genre of yonkoma that started with Azumanga Daioh, and hence maybe should be listed below with Hidamari Sketch etc...

The entire cast, really. It's arguably what the series is best known for.

Mahou Sensei Negima's Setsuna is an interesting case, as her friendship with Konoka was essentially a mechanism to show off her moe traits, until it was emphasized into a romantic feeling.

The novel version is WORSE. Visualizing it is impossible, however, as the traits contradict!

Specifically, she is a childhood friend who is a Meido robot, Ill Girl, an apparition, alien, and a Kitsune.

The protagonist Satou would qualify as moe if he wasn't a creepy nerd in his twenties.

And Misaki qualifies as fairly moe, too, once her past is revealed.

Hiyori Nishiyama is a positively TINY high school student (at 140 cm), shy as all hell, adorable and often described as reminiscent of a chick (as in baby bird). She probably rivals Mikuru Asahina. Unlike Chiyo Mihama, she's as old as her fellow class-mates. She also cries a lot and likes to hide in lockers when stressed, upset or cornered.

In Seto no Hanayome, a horrific episode of men crossdressing as schoolgirls and catgirls and trying to play off moe stereotypes culminates in San suddenly wearing cat ears -- something everyone agrees is incredibly moe (before being sent flying).

Much of the show Girls Bravo revolves around this, especially with the main character Miharu, who is completely oblivious to her own attractiveness.

Yukinari counts, especially in the episode where he dressed as a girl.

Nanoha herself became even cuter by having a cute partner, one major reason for the strong Nano/Fate fandom despite its occasional vagueness. When Nanoha is older, the addition of Vivio lets her show off her big sister/motherly traits.

Not to mention, Nanoha was the 2005 Anime Saimoe Tournament winner, and Fate was the runner-up of the 2006 tournament, only to lose to Suiseiseki.

And don't get me started on Nanoha and Fate's adorable adopted daughter, Vivio, who exists primarily to tug at the heartstrings.

To say nothing of Hayate when she was a little girl...

Caro is an adorable 10 year old girl with a sad past, a cute relationship with her partner, and after 4 years she still doesn't grow more than a few centimeters at the most. Her first action in Striker S is to trip and fall on an escalator for god's sake.

Despite anyone watching the show probably not having a problem with an older lead female, Mizuho's age in Please Teacher is discretely never mentioned. Adding to the problem is that the plot treats her position as Kei's teacher as being the illicit detail, and not apparently an age gap. She seems to inhabit a magical twenties-something spot that is also somehow young enough to give her a little sister and a first kiss during the show's run. Mizuho's mother is no help, as she REALLY has no problem with Kei being younger...

Mizuho is listed as 23 years old on several sites, making her five or eight years older than Kei, depending on whether you use Kei's mental or physical age.

Nyu, the innocent split personality of Ax Crazy Lucy from Elfen Lied. Also, Kisaragi with the bonus of being a dojikko, despite which she doesn't last very long.

Nana and Mayu could've codified the trope if EL had been written early enough, and Kouta is a decent male example.

Actually Nami was this during the Arlong arc which served as an important part of her Character Development same with Robin during the Water 7 arc and this is both as adults in the present and children in the flashbacks. Obviously afterwards this takes a backseat to the action.

The first two seasons of Da Capo feature a character actually named Moe. Given her large breasts, easygoing personality and way of speaking, she is indeed what many would consider moe.

Every teenaged female character from Hayate the Combat Butler. Hell, Hayate himself falls into this during his crossdressing moment(s); so much so that Maria and Nagi feel uncomfortable, and Klaus, unaware it is Hayate, is instantly smitten.

As is Tama the pet tiger.

And it's not just the teenagers either. Isumi's mom is just as moe as her daughter, and Nagi's late mother looked remarkably like Hayate.

Hayate even states (in a side story) that Izumi leads in this function.

Subverted hard and fast in The Daughter of Twenty Faces; main character Chiko first appears to be weak, defenseless, naive and spoiled, but by the end of the first episode we've already learned how clever and perceptive she is and by the sixth episode she can easily hold her own physically against The Dragon of the first narrative arc - and in all her flipping around still manages to avoid any trace of a Zettai Ryouiki. Chiko is the embodiment of what happens when an Action Girl decides to go "the hell with moe".

Maylene from Black Butler is clumsy, bespectacled, and blushes easily. She's also a maid. And we love her for it. She's also a crack sniper, but that's just a bonus!

Ciel fits this quite nicely as well. In fact in certain flashback scenes, he's so moe, it's almost obscene.

Finni could be classed as moe as well in this trooper's opinion. What, with having the big green eyes, blond hair that he holds back with clips and an undeniably innocent expression, this trooper fangirl's everytime she sees him!

It should be noted that the Maiden in Love's effect only activated when she was attacked] Presumably, had Judai attacked with Burstinatrix rather than playing Burst Return and Polymerization, she'd have fallen for the Moe, too.

She also fits the mold when she returns in season 3, particularly once hospitalized.

I chalk it up to the scene where he was beat up by Adiane. Not only was he bandaged in a similar style like Rei Ayanami, but he looked very young and vulnerable there.

The Guren Gakuenhen manga parodies the concept when Kamina gets a little confused as to what "Moe" is supposed to convey.

Probably a pun on "moeru" which could either refer to 萌える ("blooming," and the word that "moe" comes from) or 燃える ("burning").

Prior to the timeskip, Simon is also pretty damn moe.

The robe-clad Yoko is ridiculously adorable.

Kittan of all people tends to be portrayed as moe in fan works (though that's usually only under certaincircumstances).

Parallel Works: Kiyal's Magical Time, it is neigh impossible to not go crazy from the sheer amount of moe within those four minutes.

Played straight, but taken to goofy extremes, in Penguin Musume Heart, where Sakura goes into Fan Girl rage over one of her classmates who manages to hit just about every moe category short of having animal ears.

Tessa in Full Metal Panic, highlighted in the OVA after The Second Raid. Of course, she also happens to be an extremely intelligent Captain of an extremely powerful submarine and Special Forces Badasses. Her orders are often phrased as suggestions.

"If someone has flaws or defects, but that is exactly what draws you to them, people call it moe. It's different from 'like,' where you're drawn to their good points, their strengths. 'Like' doesn't care for defects or flaws. Moe is the opposite of 'like' or 'dislike'....."

Arguably Sakaki. While her appearance lends itself more to the Huge Schoolgirl look, her attitude is pure Moe, especially in the way that her love for cute things being dashed constantly results in people feeling sorry for her.

Chiyo-chan is very moe too.

Hazumu of Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ is a strong example, being prone to bouts of tears. Almost a male example, as we see flashbacks of his childhood, before he became a she. (Gender-swapped by aliens. No, seriously.)

Kaiji often gets called moe or even a moeblob, as part of Memetic Mutation. Of course, he is both male and not really moe, but the sheer amount of woobieness makes him look moe in the eyes of fans.

In fact due to the complete lack of female characters and most of the male characters are more on the manly side. The show is about as un-moe as you can get.

Subverted by Nina Einstein, who looks and most often acts the part, but is a racist who not only endangers her friends with her xenophobia-driven panic attacks, but also invents the series' premiere Weapon of Mass Destruction to fulfill Princess Euphemia'sEvil Eye induced dreams of genocide.

Really, any Kai Shaku work is pretty much guaranteed to be drowning in moe.

Zettai Karen Children: Kaoru loves to see how much moe she can squeeze out of the other girls (she's the one who insisted on pleated skirts for their uniforms), especially when she sees that one of her school friends is not only moe, but Dojikko as well. Two other characters love moe anime too, but these Otaku are looked upon as weirdos.

However, the series' crown prince of moe is none other than The Children's handler, Minamoto. It's the glasses...and making the girls eat their vegetables.

Sakura's mom in Code Breaker is a true Moe Blob: she's the size of a small child and loooooves playing dress up since she's Sakura's adopted mom, who knows how old she is. There's also Sakura's classmate Nenene, who is also very tiny (yet two years older then Sakura), has glasses (and Mismatched Eyes), and loves groping Sakura's breasts (she even names them).

Most, if not all, of the various Gundam series all contain a moeblob (or several). Tiffa Adill of After War Gundam X takes the cake for eliciting "I-wanna-protect-her!" feelings from the audience, thereby being very moe without even trying that hard.

Yin of Darker Than Black is like Yuki above another Emotionless Girl character who seems to fall into this both because of mannerisms and Woobie characteristics. Amber from the same series is probably a subversion. She looks and behaves most of the time like a very cute and cheerful young girl. However, this is due to the Merlin Sickness caused by her renumeration, and more importantly, her plan involves pretty much killing the entire population of Japan (although she has a somewhat justifiable reason).

Allen Walker from D Gray Man is a male personification of this, along with being a Cute Shotaro Boy. He tends to exude a feeling of innocent cuteness, especially with his wide eyes. A common term used to describe him is "adorable" and "extremely huggable." It also helps that he's the series' woobie.

Also, Ai and Ayumi. And Ran when she's crying for Shinichi/Jimmy to come home.

Train Heartnet from Black Cat, during the time when he got shot with a Lucifer bullet and reverted back to being a kid. Just the whole transformation exudes "Moe Moe" vibes. It's complete with his original clothes falling off of him because they're suddenly too big for him, he blinks innocently several times, and says "eh?" in a very cute, high voice. Later, he's even shown to be forced to wear Eve's dress temporarily, since no one else had clothes that were his size. The epitome of Moe Moe for a young boy.

Used with utmost hilarity and blatancy in Ultimate Girls, where the trope itself figures in the plot and is the source of the heroines' power needed to destroy the Monster Of The Day. It works so well with the cute and shy protagonist Silk, so much that she absolutely positively does not want the job!

Rihoko in Witchblade anime is so adorable in the scene where she hugs the table stand when a fat barmaid tries to kick her out.

Pino in Ergo Proxy after being infected with the Cogito virus can be the cutest thing.

Cute Shotaro Boy Shin in Prétear is the youngest member of the Leafe Knights. He had to run from a brigade of school girls.

Ui's Christmas flashback is a prime example of moe. Along with her sister, they can turn this trope Up to Eleven on occasions.

And there's Azusa winning Saimoe 2010.

For every character in K-on! essentially; they are so full of Moe their eyes are an adorable shade of pink. There isn't even any male recurring characters for crying out loud. The entire show is based on its Moe value.

Ichigo of the Nico Nico Douga ONA series On-tama! never fails to have certain characters become extremely infatuated with her because of this.

Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden was the 2006 Saimoe winner, and by virtue of being her twin, Souseiseki qualifies as well, albeit in a different way.

Sousei was the finalist of the 2005 tournament, only to be beaten by Nanoha.

Most of the male cast in Ookiku Furikabutte. Despite being a sports manga, it's more or less the female-targeted equivalent of a moe show in that there are tons of quirky malecharacters and has a large femalefanbase who...aren't there for the baseball.

Young Gilbert in Pandora Heartsis moe (he's the little weenie clutching his head there), but the (cheerfully sadistic) people around him like to create situations that make him even more moe. This is taken to extremes in the first DVD omake.

Strike Witches: Little girls with magical abilities that fly around in magic-powered boots to fight extradimensional evil. They grow animal ears and a tail when they use magic. The girls from Fuso (Japan) wear one-piece school bathing suits all the time, some others wear just a jacket and lowleg pantsu.

Mytho from Princess Tutu is a male example. The Damsel in Distress of the series, with huge eyes framed with thick eyelashes, Mytho's lost his emotions and a good deal of his common sense--which means he's CONSTANTLY in danger. Fakir just can't seem to resist how helpless he is.

Our main character Duck fits the bill as well, with her flusteredness every time she gets around Mytho or gets turned into a duck.

Azmaria seems to fit the bill in Chrono Crusade--in fact, the anime stripped down enough of her importance that moe seemed to be the only reason she was in it. (Disturbingly, she's also one of the characters that's easiest to find hentai of.) For the girls, woobies Chrono and Joshua seem to fit the bill.

Index herself is quite moe. :3-face, eats a lot, and speaks in such a way that tugs at your heart.

Kazari Uiharu from the To Aru Kagaku no Railgun side is probably her series' moe character. Bit clumsy and frequently gets played upon by her friend Ruiko, she has a fair amount of charm that can enamor the audience to her.

Chihiro Shindou, from ef: a tale of memories is both incredibly moe and very much woobie due to her condition. If one thinks that a girl with brain damage causing severe memory problems and missing one eye couldn't be moe, you'd be very wrong. Contrast this with her twin sister Kei, who is incredibly Tsundere (emphasis on tsun) and doesn't really fit the moe archetype.

Kirika from Noir is very moe. She may be a cold-blooded killer, but you still want to hug her.

Ai Kora has a few straight examples (all the girls in Maeda's harem have their moe moments), but also parodies this in chapter 15, when Maeda's friend and fellow parts-lover Shibusawa becomes obsessed with moe after a trip to a Maid Cafe.

Aiko from ~I"s~ has shades of Moe. She's cute, adorable, a little helpless, sometimes goofy and more than once forgetful.

Quite possibly all of the female characters in Kanon are arguably Moe. They all seem to have one quirk or another that just makes them adorable in their own way.

The same is true of Clannad. Some of them (Like Kotomi) still manage to stand out.

While we're on the topic of KEY, almost every girl in AIR qualifies as this, especially Misuzu.

Assuming you don't hate her guts, C-ko could be considered moe before the term even existed.

Kyrie from World Destruction is another male example. He can qualify in both of the manga and game version, but the Moe trait is especially apparent in the anime version.

Sena of Eyeshield 21 is extremely moe, though whether it's intentional or not is up to interpretation. Nonetheless, in a series composed of manly men with nerves of steel, the main character's small, frail body, big dinner plate eyes, and timid yet strong willed personality make him extremely endearing to the audience.

According to the coach of the Ojo White Knights (a stern man in his 60s), men in Meido costumes is quite moe. Cue the younger cast demanding Brain Bleach.

Various characters in Fairy Tail will qualify here and there, but the grand moe prize goes to Aries.

Almost all of the main female characters in Rosario+Vampire have shades of this from time to time, and believe it or not, InnerMoka is probably at the top of the Moe totem pole, at least in recent chapters. Still, the rest of the cast all have their moments.

Hinako from Training with Hinako. She's a buxom 16 year old whose main purpose is to innocently flirt with the viewer while teaching them how to do important things like how to exercise, have good sleep habits, and bathing, all the while providing lots of Fan Service. And in volume 3, she even introduces us to her loli playmate Hiyoko.

Madoka herself is an example of this, too, as well as Sayaka Miki, which just adds to the emotional whiplash when Sayaka snaps and starts gleefully cackling to herself while bludgeoning a witch to death.

Between her large breasts, being a Cool Big Sis, and her Cruel and Unusual Death, Mami also qualifies. She also won the 2011 Anime Saimoe Tournament. There's a reason why her last name is Tomoe...

Yune of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is built to pull the heartstrings, and boy does she. She's tiny, has Yamato Nadeshiko qualities, always wears fancy kimonos, is occasionally clumsy, is adorably stubborn about being useful, and is emotionally scarred from intense guilt. Despite her overall maturity, her girlishness breaks through sometimes; she just can't see a cat without wanting to pet it!

Sawako Kuronuma from Kimi ni Todoke is definitely this from the audience's perspective. She's incredibly shy and innocent, and a bit of a ditz.

Ika, the squid girl protagonist of Ika Musume. She's trying to invade the human world, but isn't taken seriously because she's just too darn cute (childlike, frequently ditzy, clumsy when tentacle-less, etc.) to really be an evil invader...right? Even when she actively attacks people, they usually just think she's goofing around.

Chekov, from the 2009 Star Trek movie. He's developed quite the female following.

He's practically a live-action anime character with his enormous greenish-blue eyes; no wonder he's a Moe! That and his positively adorable accent (especially when the computer acts like a bitch to him).

"I can do zat! I can do zat!"

Little Nancy in Sin City the movie. She is a lot cuter when seen in full color light in the bonus DVD features than in the black and white of the movie.

An arguably superior choice (due to the fact that adorable and needing protection is part of its plot) from Pixar: Boo. Not that one.

Both used straight and subverted when Wednesday Addams turns on the charm at summer camp in Addams Family Values. In just a few moments she blossoms from her usual drawn and dour self into a charming doe eyed lovable little girl.

The other children are visibly shocked. One remarks "she's scaring me!"

Child!Hanuman/Maruti from The Return of Hanuman. Big girly eyes, cheeks, innocence, he's just so adorable.

Bumblebee fills this, despite being a mechanical life form. Due to being the most humanoid of the robot cast, his movements moddelled after Marty Mcfly, the fact his horns are replaced with little bug antenas, he's given Prowl's door wings which act like dog ears, and his childlike enthusiasm at times. There's a reason many cried when he was injured in the first film and when it looks like he's about to be executed by Soundwave in the third. Possibly lampshading this, Laserbeak uses his aparent ability to change into anything to become a human child sized pink version of him to trick a small girl into letting him inside so he can kill her family.

Carly in the third film aslo acts as this, due to being more emotional than Megan Fox's character Mikeala in the first film and more playful.

Interestingly, there's quite an argument to be made for this trope being Older Than They Think; many of these character traits are actually found in 19th-Century Western literature (which was consumed voraciously once Japan opened trade with the world). The comparison isn't always exact (generally speaking, Victorian-era authors had rather different ideasabout how to use this character type), but this character type actually shows up quite a bit more often than you might think:

The best example of this might be Cosette. The Animated Adaptations that have aired in Japan over the years seem like they might've cranked the "moe" meter for her up to 11... but, uh, nope, that's pretty much exactly how she was described and acted in the book. Especially once she starts getting abused by the Thenadiers, even the most stoic among us pretty much want to scoop her up and give her a big hug and tell her it'll all be okay. Valjean thendoesthis, and you can't help but cheer. This fades a little when she gets older, but Victor Hugo still makes her seem quite vulnerable. And, uh, describes her toilette in some detail. Yeah...

Hell, on the subject of Les Mis, we can't forget to talk about Cosette's mother, Fantine. She gets knocked up and abandoned, debases herself in every way to help her daughter, and ends up dying of several diseases at once. Or how about Eponine in the second half, who ends up destitute, uneducated, and in love with Marius but with no way to really express it, complete with Verbal Tics? (Not to mention shot dead pointlessly?) Really, the only major female character who doesn't have some of these elements is Madame Thenadier.

Also, you'll note something about the above: "Anime Adaptations". There have been four different adaptations of Les Mis produced in Japan, mostly from 1978-1979, and every single one featured a significant focus on Cosette (usually as a little girl, but sometimes going into the latter parts of the novel). The 1970s ones were widely watched, and a savvy reader can imagine how Cosette was portrayed in these shows (which is to say: close to her novel depiction). Even though it's easy to identify when the trope as shown here "coalesced", there is a very, very good argument to be made that the current Japanese moe wave and its idolization all traces back to Cosette Fauchelevent, in a kind of century-spanning Germans Love David Hasselhoff situation.

Victor Hugo really had a thing for this kind of character. Esmeralda also fits this type, being an ingenue and woobie who goes through a horrendous Break the Cutie process until she dies.

Charles Dickens also dipped into this territory on occasion; Tiny Tim is another excellent example of this trope (and, in a rare case, applied to a male - even in the 19th century this was usually done to girls). In fact, part of the narrative purpose of Tiny Tim was to be moe in-universe to help Scrooge feel bad about the fact that he'd inevitably die unless Scrooge changed his ways.

Of course, Charles Dickens being, well, Charles Dickens, he then immediately set about subverting the trope. The Old Curiosity Shop featured the character of Little Nell Trent, who was moe turned Up to Eleven. The craze surrounding this girl is legendary; Dickens essentially made entire countries feel protective about Nell. In the end, she dies in the most ridiculous, overwrought manner imaginable, and Dickens did this deliberately in order to parody the overly-objectified young females of the day in fiction. Yes, that's right, Dickens essentially deconstructed moe a hundred and fifty years prior to Cardcaptor Sakura airing. How old do you think the trope is now?

Or as Oscar Wilde said, "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing."

The first Dresden Files comic, Welcome to the Jungle features Willamena "Will" Rodgers. Meganekko glasses: check. Twin braids: check. Deer in the headlights look: check. Wants to be under the hero's protection: check.

Speaking of Dresden Files, there's the Archive; perfect memory of everything written since before ever, anywhere, and holds all the accumulated memories of the previous Archives, as it's passed down from mother to daughter when the mother dies, and Ivy, as the current Archive was named by Dresden, had the unfortunate luck of having it all pushed unto her when she was a child, and her powers rival those of the Fae Queens. And when Harry met her the first time, she was all business, until she met Mister, Dresden's cat, and she went into a full 7-year old mode. And in Small Favor, when she saw otters, she went into full 12-year old mode.

In the Harry Potter books and movies, Luna "Loony" Lovegood is considered by some to be moe, even causing Anonymous to have the unusual reaction of "I want to date her and meet her parents" rather than "I want to have violent, squicky sex with her, then kill her"

Some commentators have described Twilight as the Western, heterosexual equivalent of yaoi manga in its relationship dynamics, and it's fairly common to give the Uke moe qualities.

Bertie Wooster frequently gets this treatment in fanfiction. He is entertainingly ditzy, goodhearted, and frequently in (temporary) distress due to the wacky Comedic Sociopathy-fueled schemes of his friends, and many female fans find him rather huggable.

Note that he has this quality in-universe, which is why he's such a Chick Magnet.

"I once consulted a knowledgeable pal," I said, "and his theory was that the sight of me hanging about like a loony sheep awoke the maternal instinct in Woman. There may be something in this."

Walter Plinge from Maskerade as well. He's just so earnest in his gawky misfit-ness. Totally subverted by the end. You can call Ghost!Walter a lot of things, but Moe isn't one of them.

Veesey-koosey from Corwainer Smith's short story Think blue, count two is a passenger in suspended animation aboard a interstellar vessel who as been selected to be part of the emergency crew not because she was good at anything but because she has a daughter potential of 999,999, meaning that anyone older than her would accept her as a daughter after a few minutes of relationship and because of that that person would be extremely motivated to save her life and hence the ship.

Specifically invoked by Shae during Tyrion's trial for murdering Joffrey; when she tells a (totally untrue) story of how he horribly abused her, the text says "As the tears rolled down that pretty face, no doubt every man in the hall wanted to take Shae in his arms and comfort her", which is practically the definition of Moe. The circumstances make it one of the most brutal subversions of this trope you're ever likely to encounter.

Goes double for River. On top of being very Moe, she's also 125% woobie.

And as long as we're talking about Summer Glau, Cameron. The girl plays the Moe to maximum effect.

Summer as Bennett. So Moe that she threatens to create an adorable Moe singularity.

If we're talking about Joss Whedon shows, Willow, when she's not, y'know, evil. This is especially noticeable in the first few seasons.

For that matter, Tara. One of several reasons it was such a sucker-punch when she was killed.

Also Fred, especially with her ability to put more words in 3 seconds than any other person in the whole planet.

If Joss Whedon ever wants to conquer the world, all he needs to do is put Summer Glau, Amy Acker, and Alyson Hannigan in something together. The resultant Moe vortex will suck the planet in. Oddly enough, no one will complain.

In Dollhouse, Sierra's fan girl persona. Sierra's default state seems to be woobie.

Whedon also inverts his Moe girls. Willow and Sierra are cute and fun in day-to-day life, but when they're besieged by the Big Bad, asskicking ensues. River eventually is cured of her torture-induced insanity, single-handedly slaughters a room of Reavers, and replaces Wash as pilot. Fred's more a Hot Scientist than a fighter, but remember her Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the professor who trapped her in Pylea. Kaylee's the only complete. Moe of the group. Don't mistake cuteness for weakness, people.

Also Gem from the episode "The Empath." She never speaks a word, and all you see her do is take peoples' pain away like E.T.

Also, also, Jame Finney, the teenage daughter of one of Kirk's friends and a very emotional Shrinking VioletPettanko with blue eyes big enough to drown in and a pleated miniskirt that screams "schoolgirl". When she apologizes to Kirk so sheepishly, you just want to give her a big hug.

In Densha Otoko, the eponymous character's Otaku friends mention the word "Moe" in front of Hermes, and Hermes, who is a normal human being and does not know what the word means, asks them, "Moe?" The friends think this is so Moe that they record her saying it.

Small Wonder, a show about a Robot Girl living with her inventor and his family and making their lives a mess while being innocently cute. A rare American example of the theme.

Lexie Grey (aka: "Little Grey") from Grey's Anatomy. Yeah, the one with the juice box... Not a virgin, but about as pure as a character can get on that show...

To an extent Doctor Who's Jo Grant and Polly cover this territory at times.

Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. Conspicuously the youngest member of the BAU, Reid's adorableness is frequently signposted by Matthew Gray Gubler's voice jumping an octave and random characters flipping his hair. The writers once devoted the first two minutes of an episode about another team member's grave childhood trauma to Reid performing "physics magic" with utter joy.

Zack Addy from Bones should count too. He was the young, innocent and socially awkward member of the squints (forensic geeks) and was like the little puppy of the team. Everyone loved him, sometimes more than the two main characters.

Parker, from Leverage. Partially as a result of her obviously Troubled Past and partially as a result of her endearing Cloudcuckoolander qualities, Parker's emotional pain seems to set off protective instincts in the entire team. Eliot even offers to kill a charlatan psychic for making her cry.

And Eric Matthews. Amazingly, another example of becoming more Moe when he's Chantelle in What A Drag (S 7 E 11). She's so sad when she is told that she's ugly, she actually cries for days until Topanga (not knowing Chantelle is Eric) says she has 'a beautiful spirit' after she gives her good relationship advice.

Peggy Olsen on Mad Men; even when she becomes successful, she's just so damn adorable, you want to hold her in your arms and never let go.

Babylon 5's Ambassador Delenn, despite being one of the most powerful sentient beings in the galaxy and more than capable of commanding a war fleet, can turn absolutely kittenish. Witness her private moments with JohnSheridan, or any time she embarks on a passionately idealistic speech. This fits with her role as The Heart, as she is easily the most dreamy, romantic character on the show. Mira Furlan's dreamy green eyes don't hurt, nor does the fact that her nose goes all adorably wrinkled when she's confused or smiling.

Joshua from Dark Angel is an unexpectedly adorable Moe. Maybe not in appearance, what with him being a seven-foot mutant dog-man. However, his sweet, gentle, idealistic personality and tragic story leave many just wanting to give him a big hug.

Rather surprisingly, Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as a very young Stephen Hawking in BBC's Hawking inspires moe feelings in the female fanbase, at least if the comments on youtube and tumblr are at all indicative.

Perhaps this isn't too surprising. Viewed in terms of tropes and not as a historical documentary about theoretical physics, this is an Adorkable actor with a beautiful smile playing a Cute Glasses Boy-Stoic Woobie-Ill Boy-nerd who uses physics trivia and Beatles lyrics to flirt with the girl he likes.

Something about you makes people pity you and want to take care of you. You get + 3 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need (which never includes those with the Callous disadvantage). Taken in conjunction with above-average looks, Pitiable means you are "cute" instead of "sexy"; in combination with below-average looks, it means you are "appealingly homely," like a basset hound.

The Collectible Card Game Weiss Schwarz uses moe as its primary selling point, allowing moe stalwarts such as the Lucky Star and Clannad casts to wage bloody moe battle against each other.

Recette, from Recettear an Item Shops Tale, could only accomplish what she did because she was so lovable. It's even lampshaded in the dialogue. "That girl: something about her inspires people to care."

P4 also contains a fairly hilarious subversion using a character from P3, to boot: Chihiro, of all people, shows up during the school trip to Iwatodai, as the class president of Gekkoukan High. She isn't "moe" anymore (her fear of men, ah, having been conquered). Instead? She's now only about a half-step under Tina Fey in terms of straight-out hotness.

On the topic of Persona, P2's Jun Kurosu. Jesus Christ, just, Jun Kurosu. Even his first demon contact is called "Moe Face". Then there's the one involving Ginko putting Jun in drag and him looking so cute that the female demons adore him and the male demons are scared of him. Hell his official profile talent (amongst fortune telling and flower language) is CROSS DRESSING. Oh Atlus.

From Blaz Blue, we have Noel Vermillion, an adorably ditzy Lieutenant for the world government who, whenever you see her, you'll just want to give her a big ol' hug! Provided you're not a member of her Hatedom.

Tsubaki might be inching in this direction if she keeps getting mind raped the way she is, too. Though to a lesser extent than Noel.

Ilyana from the ninth and tenth Fire Emblem games is not only incredibly cute, but has an absolutely insatiable hunger. Several of the characters have reported her using her cute face and vulnerable appearance to swipe unsuspecting men's food.

FE 7 has Shrinking Violet Florina and Plucky Girl Nino, FE 4 has Rana, Yuria and Tinny; FE 8 has Myrrh, Neimi and Amelia and the third game has Chiki, Maria and Yumina. Thany from FE 6 is a subversion; she has a moe face, but timid and vulnerable are not in this girl's vocabulary. Fa and Sophia, on the other hand...

Ibis Douglas from Super Robot Wars. She's not as moeblob obvious like Kusuha, but she actually became the champion of moe characters in the SaiMoe RPG 2006 contest. Maybe it had something to do with her Pettanko status; or her Captain Crash tendencies; or her love for cheesecake...

Horribly enough, the reason the moe-figures work is because the male characters have surprisingly moe personalities. Snake alone is a aloof/warm-type TsundereIll Girl who makes nonsense vocalisations, is devoted to his best friend, and gets a lot of Panty Shots. Otacon is so moe it hurts.

And the kicker is Raiden, designed as the beautiful bishounen, is * not* moe. It's his personality, and specifically the examination of his selfishness and abusiveness at the end of MGS2 - it's impossible to go "aww" after that. But the legendary mercenary and his "best friend"? Awww!

Emma from Metal Gear Solid 2 also qualifies.

Mei Ling is also quite cute, and her Tsundere moments (like her Easter Egg appearance over the codec in MGS 2) make her even more so.

The meme of Yuka being called "youkai moe" is actually from Word of God, but it also should be mentioned that Yuka is a flower youkai, and the literal meaning of moe is budding or sprouting (ie as a flower). Therefore, Yuka is less of an example and more of a victim of an Incredibly Lame Pun most English speakers won't get.

Make way for Kogasa, the new Youkai Moe~. How can you say no to a face like this?

Nakoruru and Rimururu of the Samurai Shodown series are very much siblings made of pure concentrated moe. Nakoruru moreso, as she somehow got herself recognition as one of Japan's most moe characters.

Interesting fact is that when Samurai Shodown received an OVA, Nakoruru gets to be voiced by the actress who played Mei, as listed in the Live Action TV section above. So that means what's already moe, is dialed Up to Eleven.

There's also Estelle from Tales of Vesperia, full of so much Moe to go hand-in-hand with her Damsel in Distress role. In addition, she's adorably naive and gentle, though it wears off to a degree as the game progresses. She does start off as a girl who wants to make graves for every monster she kills.

Liara T'Soni of Mass Effect. Tali'Zorah nar Raaya is equally cute, but much snarkier and less of an innocent.

Though if you romance Tali as a male Shepard in Mass Effect 2, she gets so adorably flustered you can practically FEEL a Luminescent Blush coming through her faceplate.

In Mass Effect 2, a conversation between a Quarian girl and a Turian implies that Quarians in general instill this sort of reaction in humans ("It's always the same with humans: 'She gets sick easily! She's so vulnerable! I wonder what she looks like under that helmet...'")

Legion. Yes, Legion, at least once he's opened up post his loyalty mission.

Princess Zelda from Spirit Tracks. Somehow manages to become cuter in the form of an ungodly metal golem of ghost armor four times her size.

Zelda's moe returns in full force in Skyward Sword. The brighter art style and the fact that she looks younger than her Twilight Princess incarnation probably help.

For that matter; Toon Link, Toon Link, TOON LINK. He makes every game he is in about ten times cuter. You really want to cuddle him whether it's for his many endearing facial expressions or his adorable little battle cries.

Moemon is a Game Mod of Pokémon which replaces all of the Pokemon sprites with moe gijinka.

There are varying versions of the moe sprites for different hacks. Some are meant to be female-specific, while others could easily be mistaken for men if not for the gender symbol. A couple are male-specific, sorta, but not many.

In the main games, Fennel and Lyra (provided you aren't a member of the latter's Hatedom) definitely have huggable qualities.

Okami: Origin of all that is good, and mother to us all, Amaterasu. AKA Ammy. AKA Fluffball. AKA Snowy, Fido, pooch, and Snowball. And Powderpuff. We all know she's a full blown deity reincarnated as a wolf, but dammit if she ain't the cutest thing in the world when she's wagging her tail.

Okamiden sees your puny example and laughs derisively at it. Then you look at this and say "D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Miyu from Trinity Universe. She's a talented Starving Artist who is supporting her family. She is shy and uncertain. She wears A-Rank Zettai Ryouiki. And she's a Catgirl, complete with ears and tail.

Valkyria Chronicles resident Moe Isara Gunther is also the squads tank operator, making her and her Bishonen brother the most powerful unit in the entire game.

Asha of Monster World IV is ridiculously cute. She was also the least popular character in the series, unfortunately, owing perhaps to the Moe phenomenon not having arrived yet.

Athena Asamiya from The King of Fighters was always a fairly cute girl in all of her appearances but for the moe qualities, was usually outclassed by other characters (such as Kula, Yuri, or Momoko). However, by the twelfth installment, she was redesigned and fell squarely inside the definition.

Vivi from Final Fantasy IX is the best example in the series. He has many of the standard moe traits: he is clumsy, shy, young and innocent. Add in existential angst to justify his social awkwardness and a doll-like appearance and you have a character that most players just want to give a hug to.

Tifa from VII can get pretty Moe at times, especially when she acts so shy and awkward around Cloud.

Can't forget Yuna and Rikku from Final Fantasy X, especially with how Woobie they both are.

Isabella in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Possibly Penny as well, although it's offset by all the crazy.

Alistair in Dragon Age I. He is so innocent and shy, its adorable! Then he goes all knight in shining armor, or tries to, once you romance him a little.

When compared to food, one Dragon Age writer said Alistair is like "strawberries and cream, sweet and wholesome and delicious, and a little goofy." Another said he is like an apricot "Cute, sweet and just a little fuzzy."

Leliana is also terribly moe.

Bethany in Dragon Age II. The face system seems designed to give her moe eyes if you make a custom face.

The Maiden in Black from Demons Souls; she is so cute that if you kill her, she will resurrect shortly after, and then apologize to you for not being able to die. The way she swings her feet on the stairs while waiting for you to get back is also nothing short of adorable.

In fact, the new moe rallying cry appears to be HNNNNNNNG!, imitating the character's heart attacks due to moe overdose.

Reiterating that Hanako out-moe's the others, that series of Yonkoma has most of the girls doing something to make Hisao's condition act up. Hanako's was just 3 Beat Panel of her looking at him, looking away, and looking at him again, apparently trying to work up the courage to say something.

Emi is also a step up from the other girls in terms of moe (and not popularity, unfortunately), as Hisao is already passed out from the beginning of the strip just from having a conversation with her. Of course, Emi herself is both completely flustered and moe at the same time in the proceeding panels.

Really, any of your female companions fall into this in some way. Maya with her Adult Child naivete, Pearl's innocent ignorance of the world outside Kurain Village (and just being the one little girl in general), and Trucy Wright just all around. Even Kay Faraday, Genki Girl as she is, gets in on it sometimes with her charming ambition. It helps that all these characters have Woobie backgrounds.

Ron DeLite: Mask☆DeMoe.

A quick answer: the whole moe game genre. Not that they are bad for it.

Speaking of Kimiko...Masha Kinoko. Using the power of moe, she single-handedly melted any objection towards the introductions of original characters in the series and was considered too adorable to become the final boss of the series, which was her intended role in the story at the time of her introduction.

(Touhou Nekoyayou #50: A Maid's Work)

Tewi Inonymous: The unforgivable sin of fan works is original characters. DUH!

You know what? Skip individual descriptions, all the kids, and ALL the trolls can count as Moe at one point, for a ludicrous plethora of reasons. Which makes the three trolls who are now hated and feared an especially interesting character study...

Cuanta Vida has Anton, the panicky Meganekko medic. The CV fandom is usually ridiculously protective of the two main characters, so it really says something that Anton was immediately forgiven for working with Rojo to kidnap Bleu.

The Nostalgia Critic. Those huge, pretty eyes, his actor's gleeful catering to the fangirls and the fact that he looks like a kid playing grown-up (andtendstosuckatit) in that messy suit adds a lot to his appeal.

No mention of Erika Swanson of Erikas New Perfume yet? For shame. After using the Imported Alien Phlebotinum, she finds herself balancing tweenage social hardships with several infantile traits (Most prominently being the usage of diapers) and yet she still manages to be a Cheerful Child when not utterly embarrassed. Combine that with a shy, sweethearted nature and a pair of soulful Green Eyes, and she is 100% Moe.

Betty Boop may well have been the original progenitor of the animated Moe character. The target audience of her cartoons was adult men rather than children, and she made popular the large eyes and other child-like facial features that are common on a lot of modern Moes. Also, she was voiced by Mae Questal, who at the time was very popular due to her cutesy voice.

Adorably ditzy Magical Girl Hay Lin, from WITCH, IS this trope. Aside from Rei, one struggles to find a character who fits it so perfectly. If she's not being suggestive and adorable, she's being even more adorable and frightened, she's a slender little thing with a nice chest when she transforms but Pettanko leanings when a normal person. All she needs is blue hair and some bandages and she could be Rei's (much more chipper) sister.

Futurama. Come on...if you were Leela, you know you'd date Fry in a second. None of that pussyfooting around. It's all his heart, and the fact that he is so very, very, very lonely, being the oldest human in the world by a very long shot. Plus, he's nice to people who don't give a rat's ass about him, for no good reason at all. What's there not to like? Intelligence? Overrated!

Or how about Leela herself? How can you not hear orphanage stories and not want to give her a hug? One eye or two, who cares?

What about Kif? With the big head, large eyes, small nose, girlish voice and the borderline Woobieness, he's downright adorable!

Shego from Kim Possible turns Moe when she gets hit by an attitude ray, which changes her personality to the opposite of her current one. That lady on the Dark Action Girl page? That's her.Seriously.

Ron has his moments.

Toki of Metalocalypse is the closest thing to Moe you can get in that series. He's so childlike, endearing, and you just can't help but want to hug him because he's probably the most sentimental of the group. And then there's his little song "Underwater Friends." However, he's also a good example of Beware the Nice Ones...

Lindsay from Total Drama Island. Peppy, innocent, sweet and has a very childish tone to her voice. Plus, how can you not love this face.

Also, among the new contestants, Dawn and Zoey. The former is a Luna LovegoodExpy, is the shortest girl in the season, has big, doe eyes, and a cute, squeaky voice. The latter is a cute redhead that has an endearing personality and a Friendless Background that would make anyone want to give her a hug.

Apple Bloom is also very Moe, earning the Fan Nickname "Moe Pony" based on her first appearance alone.

Most characters from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic are pretty Moe to begin with. Heck, the entire show might be the best example of the "moe" concept catching on in western fandom today. Either way, many of the Ponies can fall under many different moe tropes, such as:

Sweetie Belle is adorably clumsy, has an amazing singing voice yet she's too shy to sing in public, the cutest voice cracks in the history of voice acting...d'aww!

Particularly notable is the episode "Green Is Not Your Color," where Fluttershy becomes a supermodel entirely due to her Moe appeal, complete with Enforced Method Acting so she always looks scared in her pictures.

The main six when they were in kindergarten were just adorable as well

Miss Grotke is a rare over 18 example of the trope. Personality speaking, she's like a misplaced Disney Princess. Sadly, a lot of her moe-ness is taken out of most dubs, where her cute, high-pitched voice is usually replaced with a lower, more boring one.

T.J. can be pretty moe sometimes. Most of the Japanese fans consider him to be very moe.

Ichigo Mashimaro embodies this with all the subtlety of a thrown brick. It has four "younger sisters", all cutesy, strangely dressed, inexplicably endearing oddballs, although this is slightly subverted, as according to elder sister Nobue, Chika's only distinguishing trait is a lack of a distinguishing trait.

The author's deadpan delivery does keep the moe aspect within manageable bounds though, although the series certainly has its amounts of Squee -- Miu and Nobue's intimate moment after Miu's open display of jealousy comes to mind.

Kamichu! is an excellent example of the two different kinds of moe. Most of the show is based purely on the "protective feeling" school of moe, as the show is not "sexed up" in any way, and bears nary a hint of Fan Service. And then from left field comes the obligatory Beach EpisodeLovers of the Sun. Gainaxing, Fan Service, and stretched-tight swimsuits suddenly leave the target audience at a loss. (Mumbles to self, "...was as disturbing as that Hello Kitty bondage doll ...")

The anime is mild compared to the Manga that came after, which is at times quite Fan Service-heavy. This often focuses on Matsuri, who is also depicted as much more well-endowed than in her anime-incarnation. The other girls get their fair share as well though, especially Yurie.

The Japanese Transformers toy and manga series, "Kiss-Player", attempts to combine moe-type female characters with transforming robots. Reaction has been suitably mixed, with a large contingent declaring it the Worst. Thing. Ever. (It should be noted, though, that at least part of this reaction can be traced to the storyline, which involves evil robots with disturbingly phallic tongues who eat people.)

Azumanga Daioh could be a prototype; it came before moe, but it follows the structure of many modern slice-of-life moe series with its almost entirely female cast of quirky characters and emphasis on their interactions and day-to-day lives. Though unlike most moe series the focus is more on humor than cuteness and the girl's personalities are Played for Laughs instead of Squees. Special mention goes to Chiyo, Sakaki, and Kaorin.

Axis Powers Hetalia is stuffed to capacity with moe goodness, appropriately, as its huge cast of characters consists of moe anthropormorphisms of countries. You've got your standard-issue "Hetare" (Hetalia is a contraction of "Hetare Italy," referring to North Italy, but many other characters also qualify), Tsundere (Germany, South Italy, and most notably, England), Yandere / Cute and Psycho (Russia, (arguably) Latvia, and Belarus), Cute Shotaro Boys (Sealand and Latvia), The Cutie (Taiwan), and various others. Listing all the Meganekko would take up half the page. England and Italy have been called tsundere and moe, respectively, in canon.

Lithuania comes damn close to being the most moe, if simply through having hellish luck. First, he's lackey to Poland, who has a good heart but is very selfish, then he winds up with Russia, and, just to top it all off, his crush, Belarus, breaks all his fingers in less than five minutes. Face it, this guy's entire life is made up of Yank the Dog's Chain moments.

Lucky Starlampshades moe characters regularly. The series as a whole is more of a parody of moe series, but can still be classified as moe due to it following high school girls who don't look a day older than 12 and are often portrayed as adorable. Its popularity also helped launch a moe subgenre that's best described as "four female moe-blobs hang out and do nothing in particular."

K-On!. The series description can be summed up thusly: Four moe-blobs form a rock band.

There's actually a whole VN genre for so-called "moege". Da Capo and its spinoffs, Shuffle, Snow Sakura and Canvas2 are just some that this particular niche has to offer.

Speaking of Da Capo, remeber the character Moe above in the anime section? In the VN there's more to her than meets the eye, and it has to do with her unusual sleeping habits, if that alone is not Moe enough. She takes sleeping pills. Not because of insomnia, but due to a tragic incident in her childhood - there was a boy she liked, then one day he died. Overcome with grief, she made a wish to the magical Sakura Tree to see that boy in her dreams. Hence her need to sleep. Thus when the tree withers, she loses that wish, and just breaks down. Awwww